The Official Blog of the IZOD IndyCar Series

I write from time to time on this blog. And if you follow this blog or my posts, you’ll notice I often write about Flickr. I mean, a lot.

To date we have uploaded 5,264 photographs or graphics. We have created 100 sets. We administer 11 groups. Our most viewed image has over 5,800 views. Will Power’s jump at Barber Motorsports Park this year has been favorited 26 times. And out most commented image, is Guess the Driver, with 16 comments. Oh, and we have 448 Flickr contacts.

I’ve been thrilled with our experience on Flickr so far (just a season and a half). We think you have too.

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Have you ever been on vacation or visited a place so stunning or picturesque, that it’s almost impossible to take a bad photo?

Not to take away from the work of our professional photographers that work in the IZOD IndyCar Series, but at Barber Motorsports Park, I really do think it’s hard to take a bad photo.

It’s beautiful, with rolling hills, a manicured landscape, a museum and a scattering of art installations.

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IZOD IndyCar Series drivers, Graham Rahal and Charlie Kimball welcomed members of the INDYCAR staff to Brownsburg, Indiana for an inside look at the new Service Central-Norvo Nordisk Ganassi Shop. Read more about the visit and discover what their teams are doing to prepare for the 2011 season. There’s also a complete Flickr set available for fans with a photo tour of the shop.

It was a busy week for tracks with Iowa Speedway asking fans what they hope to see at this year’s Iowa Corn Indy 250, the series saying “Sayonara” to Twin Ring Motegi and drivers reacting to the newly unveiled Edmonton Indy circuit layout. Following the announcement, IZOD IndyCar Series driver Ryan Briscoe (@RyanBriscoe6) tweeted that the new layout looked great for passing opportunities.

Justin Wilson (@JustinWilson22) replied to agree with Ryan and add that the new layout will have some brake zones and looks like fun.

The online IndyCar fan community jumped on this week’s Photo Caption contest. Fans were asked to provide a caption to a unique Sarah Fisher Racing photo. Over 213 Facebook submissions were received and fans even saw Sarah Fisher Racing leave a message saying the contest was funny! The field was then narrowed down to the top 5 captions and fans voted for their winner (click here to see the final votes). Congratulations to Colleen Ney McGuire for her winning submission “I don’t care if you say ‘pretty please.’ You’re not driving the car!” Colleen will receive an IndyCar prize pack in plenty of time for the 2011 season.

The online community stayed busy with activity when news broke that Barber Motorsports Park was offering a special Groupon discount for fans of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. Fans could save $110 on two, Sunday General Admission tickets when buying into the exclusive deal. The Groupon deal brought a subtle reminder that just 53 days remain until the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.

The racing community was rocked this week by the passing of long-time Indianapolis Motor Speedway public address announcer, Tom Carnegie (read more here).

“Tom Carnegie was a true gentleman and a legend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and throughout the state of Indiana.  For so many years his unmistakable voice signified the beginning of the month of May and the Indianapolis 500. We will certainly miss Tom and his spirit, his unique style of announcing and his passion for racing.” -Roger Penske

Click here to see more of what the IndyCar community has had to say about the track legend this week. There’s simply no more-fitting way, so I will close this week’s recap with a video tribute to Tom Carnegie:

I actually thought the Flickr posts for 2010 had to come to a close. Then I read on Flickr’s site something about a group and submitting your best shot for 2010. That got me thinking, why shouldn’t IndyCar submit their best shot to this group? And why shouldn’t you be involved?

I picked (5) of our most discussed, viewed, favorited, and interesting of our images from 2010 for you to vote on. I’ll check the results next Sunday and submit the winner. I know we have more than 5 really cool shots, but I had to start somewhere.

So take a look at the following five and make your selection. And if you’re interested the official Flickr 2010 group, you can check it out HERE: Your Best Shot 2010.

Enjoy the poll below. If you’re having any difficulties registering a pick, please leave your choice as a comment on this post – it will be factored in.

Check back next week!

Another week is underway and here’s another piece on Flickr. Since the season ended in early October (which seems like a long time ago), we’ve been running a series of Flickr/photo blog posts, covering everything from our most popular images, to most interesting, to what IndyCar teams are doing. This time, it’s all about you. I searched through images from our contacts within Flickr and found some pretty cool shots. Here they are.

Here’s Takuma Sato on the streets of St. Petersburg by James Boone. The blurriness reveals the speed and movement at a street circuit.

Gerry Calub grabbed this shot in pit lane at Infineon Raceway. Any ideas on what these are? I always enjoy pictures that show the behind the scenes action at an event.

Daniel Riffero grabbed this shot of Tony Kanaan through the corner at Long Beach. Looks like this was a tough one to get.

Bo Gray got truly behind the scenes at a video shoot, to grab some really candid shots. Here’s Dario Franchitti, driving in a a drop top.

Flickr user Track Chic caught this great moment with Helio Castroneves celebrating his win Barber Motorsports Park. Who doesn’t love champagne shots?

Remember some of the weather issues in Sao Paolo earlier this year? Check out Crystian Cruz’s view of things. It should bring back all the memories.

Those are some pretty incredible shots. If you’ve taken some and you want us to know, please leave us a comment or share a link. We’d love to see them.

Otherwise, what are your thoughts on some of these images?

The IZOD IndyCar Series’ 2011 schedule basically runs concurrently with the Major League Baseball regular season and League Championship Series playoff schedule. And because IndyCar visits many markets with major league and Triple-A teams, this is a public service for potential vacation planning.

Dates on which there’s a baseball homestand or individual game near an IndyCar event venue:

March 27 – Streets of St. Petersburg (Fla.). The Tampa Bay Rays open the season at Tropicana Field with an April 1-3 homestand against Minnesota. Extend your spring break stay from the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

April 10 – Barber Motorsports Park (Ala.). The Atlanta Braves’ home opening stand is April 8-10 against Philadelphia.

April 17 – Streets of Long Beach (Calif.). St. Louis visits the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 14-17.

May 29 – Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Triple-A Indianapolis Indians have a homestand in which they play host to Columbus (May 13-16) and Buffalo (May 17-20). Opening Day at the Speedway is May 14, with Pole Day on May 21.

June 11 – Texas Motor Speedway. The Texas Rangers are home to Detroit on June 6-8 if you want to come early and watch a game or two before the racing doubleheader under the lights.

June 19 – The Milwaukee Mile. The Brewers kick off a homestand June 20 against Tampa Bay.

June 25 – Iowa Speedway. The Triple-A Iowa Cubs play host to Memphis (June 21-24) and Albuquerque (June 25-28). June 24 is Fireworks Night.

Aug. 28 – Infineon Raceway (Calif.). The San Francisco Giants play host to Houston (Aug. 25-28).

Sept. 4 – Streets of Baltimore. The Orioles’ homestand against Toronto ends Sept. 1. The Washington Nationals are home to the New York Mets on Sept. 2-4 and continue their homestands Sept. 5 against Los Angeles.

You may have noticed we utilized Flickr this season. We used it as a way of reaching a new community and to bring a new perspective to our sport, through imagery. We featured all of the races from the 2010 season, a few Race to the Party’s, the 2012 announcement, the 2012 fan-designed chassis, and much, much more.

To date, we’ve uploaded 2,876 images – in one season – with over a million views from fans.

Flickr measures the popularity of images in four ways – Interesting, Views, Favorites and Comments. More on that later.

For this post, I wanted to look back on share some of my favorite images from Flickr in 2010 and reveal some of the amazing shots our photographers captured. In the next few weeks, I’ll be revealing the most popular images, according to Flickr. Sit tight.

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As I catch up on my blog posts, I thought that my Barber adventure was best displayed in pictures. One of my favorite events so far this year, Birmingham and its rolling hills did not disappoint. And at one point, we did experience the “backwoods of B-ham” while detouring around a traffic jam (someone nominate Zepp to be a full-time pace car driver).

Here’s a summation of the weekend:

I was most impressed by the race fans who came out for this race. They came with their motorcoaches and weekend sporting set-ups. And if we could get everyone to paint their car like a super spirited cheer parent, we’d have the largest and cheapest mobile marketing campaign EVER. Get on it, people!

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Taylor Hicks, the 2006 “American Idol” winner, received an up-close and (maybe too) personal view of the 2.38-mile, 17-turn Barber Motorsports Park circuit in the front seat of a Honda Accord Pace Car courtesy of Firestone Indy Lights driver and Pace Car Team member James Hinchcliffe.

Hicks, a Birmingham, Ala., native, sang the national anthem before the inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by Legacy Credit Union.

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When seeking dinner suggestions in Birmingham, there are quality options to cover every day of the year.

Opinions about BBQ, though, are as numerous as restaurants. It seems everyone has their favorite – from Mom and Pop’s such as Miss Myra’s Pit Bar B Q to a swankier sauce experience (where the napkins are linen). “Have you tried?” a member of the Bruno Event staff at Barber Motorsports Park responds to an inquiry, only to be met with “No, I have a better place” by a member of the Zoom Motorsports promotion group.

This weekend, being the fourth visit to the city and Barber Motorsports Park, our travel group has hit a cross-section – from the quintessential Dreamland (with a loaf a white bread plopped in the center of your table; on a plate, of course) to the Full Moon (with its slogan “The Best Little Pork House in Alabama”).

Regional variations abound, and Birmingham area is known for its sweet tomato-based sauce.  Northern Alabama is known for its distinctive white sauce (mayonnaise- and vinegar-based). No thanks.

Another good thing for those involved with the Indy Racing League – coming up on the schedule is another city known for its barbeque (Kansas City). Pass the wipes, please.